September 2008
Yesterday I saw a brand spanking new Lancer in my carpark. It looked superb.
I immediately checked out the mitsubishi website to find out more.
Now I drive a diesel car because I have to. I do alot of miles and there is no way I could afford to run a petrol car. I could not believe my luck when I found out that the Lancer is now available with a VW 2.0 TDi engine (I have the Skoda Octavia 2.0 TDi right now)
Price wise it compares favourably with a Skoda Octavia.
A quick check on the technical specs showed that the Lancer was over 100Kg lighter and as such was slightly quicker on the 0-60 time - Great so far.
Then I looked at the fuel economy .... and ..... great disappointment. 44mpg compared with the 51mpg on the heavier Skoda with the same engine.
Thats 7mpg difference, which is one hell of a difference over the 125,000 miles + That I will cover in my next car. At todays fuel prices thats an extra 390 gallons costing £2106, and we all know that will be higher with the speed that diesel fuel prices are increasing. So sadly that is telling me that I am probably going to be sticking to Octavia's (which are great cars .... but don't look like a 2008 Lancer)
So what is with the poor (in comparison with VW/Seat/Skoda/Audi) fuel economy? Does the Lancer have the aerodynamics of a pile of bricks with a satellite dish on top?
Luke
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I'm currently on the lookout for a new car. Well about 3/4 years old.
I know the Peugeot 206 1.4 HDi is only £35 per year for tax but what other cars fall into this tax bracket?
Only stipulation. It has to be diesel. Anything else is a bonus!!
Thanks Read more
My 56 1.9 Sporting (22,600 miles) is occasionally a reluctant starter. Gives a little cough and needs a second turn of the key, after which a small plume of smoke can be seen in the mirror. I've also noticed an occasional hesitation on acceleration around 2000 rpm on a light throttle.
It's out of its 2-yr manufacturer's guarantee, and the 3rd year Dealer guarantee doesn't cover problems like dirty injectors and such. It's my first diesel so I'm seeking guidance from experienced oil burners on what the problem might be, and how best to deal with it. Read more
Fill it with Shell V Power and drive it hard - preferably on long runs...
I'm sure this should be in the manual but I can't see it easily.
After I stopped the car I knocked the indicator stalk and held it in position, I then heard four (or 5) loud beeps which obviously reset something on the car.
This happens holding it either up or down, do any of you clever experts know what this might be changing.
I suppose I could always call a dealer but that is really a last resort with my local dealers.
Thanks in advance Read more
As DD says it's a parking light, so it's intended that you can leave it on all night with no issues unless you have a very dodgy battery.
We currently have three cars. The reasons for that are mildly complex. My wife and I genuinely use them on a rotating basis depending on who is doing what and going where. Two of them need to be insured for social, domestic and business use and the other purely for social and domestic.
At present we have three insurance policies. The two business ones are in my name with my wife as a named driver and the third is in her name with me as the named driver. In reality we use each other's cars quite often as whatever was the last car to be parked blocks in the other two and it is just easier, if only nipping out, to use the one nearest the road whichever that happens to be.
Resultantly, it sort of makes a nonsense of the "main driver" statement as we both switch cars daily.
To address this and indeed with a view to saving money, I was wondering if anyone had heard of an insurance policy which would cover both of us for all three cars for all purposes ? Clearly it would almost certainly be more expensive than any one of the current policies but might work out cheaper than the total cost of all three.
Any thoughts or tips ?
Thanks, Humph. Read more
It was not you that resurrected the old post ;-)
Rob (one of the mods)
I've a bit of an odd problem that's proving very irritating. But, going back to computers... On this site, and this site only, my keyboard is very slow to respond to key strokes meaning that this post is taking me twice as long to type as it normally would. Not every key stroke is immediately recognised and it's driving me mad(der)!
As always, any thoughts or advice would be most gratefully received.
Cheers. Read more
Excellent. Thank you
Hi folks,
Girlfriend has a '57 plate Fiesta 1.4 Zetec and just noticed at the weekend that the antifreeze and power steering fluid is getting a bit low.
Not had to top it up yet in the 8 months she's owned it so checked the manual and the recommended fluid is Ford or Motorcraft Power Steering Fluid and Motorcraft SuperPlus Antifreeze...
Where on earth can I get that from? Or are there alternatives that I can use with the above only being "recommended"?
Obviously I want to be careful what I use to preserve the warranty on the car.
Is my only option to go to a Ford garage and let them do it for ££££££££'s? Read more
... and/or make sure you are reading the fill level correctly. A leak in one is remotely possible, but in both seems highly unlikely.
Wow,
I've just had my insurance renewal reminder and it has increased by 10% from last year to £770, (no difference/change to circumstances).
Tried a couple of price comparison websites, (over the last couple of years my existing company has been competitive and usually a phone call to beg for a "loyalty discount" gets another £25 to £30 discount), HOWEVER, I've just insured with the RAC for £486.00. That's almost 37% cheaper (or £284 in real money).
Nice to get a result.
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sq
peurget 106 , 2 dr 1.1l engine
Hello,
My car has been the victim of a mindless 14 year old boy, who has broken into it 3 times in 7 days (he got arrested the first time, so is obviously quite stupid!).
However, on one of the more recent attempts to drive it, he has managed to damage the clutch.
I am able to start the engine and put the car into gear, but there is no bite when I try to pull away.
Is this a major job? Or is it something that we can fix without too much pain and cost.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. The car is quite old and not worth repairing if it is going to cost a fortune
Thanks in advance - FiestaRed Read more
Hello all, after searching through loads of silly dedicated BMW site's where most the people do not really know what they are talking about I have returned to trust old Honest John.
I 'stuck' with a horrid 530d 1999 BMW..... (recently moved to prague and this car was the guy how worked her before me, it was very cheap and due to all sorts of silly legal issue's of permits etc I bought it..... as soon as my permits are done.. over to german for nicer smaller Audi that does'nt look like the Titanic)
Anway, the car is on 127K mile's.... besides a really frustrating A/c issue and a slight oil leak from the main crank oil seal she runs like a dream and goes like a train....it is 110% at crusing around Czech and German....
Now to the point: I want to give her a good service and I mean everything.. I'm seriously clocking up the miles and always like to 'start' fresh...
Engine oils etc all easy, simple stuff... diff's pretty much the same... but the gearbox... dilema..
The box has 120+, normally I would not think twice about changing the oil in any gearbox... but this one say LIFETIME FILL.... hummmm, read loads of stuff... YES, NO.. LIFETIME = 100K miles etc... call BMW... might as well called my wife as asked, I just got we would not do it, it is lifetime oil....
Questions: If the box is working great (as it is), does not slip, jump or play about (from what I can tell) is it worth changing the oil
or in order to keep the box working so well, may be an oil change is a good idea.....
Any one?
H
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AS,
your right... that does not worry me... I would drain and 'fill' using the oil cooler hoses... drain from the pressure side and suck from the, well suck side (low pressure)... I have done that before... keep her running until you see good oil coming out... this clears the torque converter...
done it on a few cars..... even a telehandler......
one issue I do have with the beemer is I do not know how to determine if the oil level is correct.... normally there is a level plug and I do not know on my motor (honestly not looked yet....) however..... common sense says... if I diconnect both pipes from the cooler.... one goes into the waste (h.press) and one into the fresh oil, start the engine... when good oil comes out of the pressure side then the quantity of oil should be correct (whats came out, went in.. just need to think about my logic a bit more there.... but it should be right....)
Thanks for the comment.. great some one is thinking....
H
It is very disconcerting to hear that the old petrol units could manage 40+mpg and the new car only manages 44mpg on diesel.
Still not got to the bottom of what the problem is. Is it the aerodynamics? Does it have really dodgy gear ratios? I'm sure they'll publish the gear ratios and coefficient drag ratios in the brochure so if someone who understands those figures could shed some light?
Thanks
Luke